Here was a bright idea; what about an Inter-Continental Cup??? A "final" pitting the Champions of Europe ("finalised" by the winners of the then European Cup against the Champions of South America's Copa Libertadores), to stir up emotions.
The first leg of the 1967 Intercontinental Cup Final on the 18th October, brought a few issues including torrid behaviour, dreadful fouls and flared tempers.... which did football no favours at all.
The Final between Argentinian and South American Champions, Racing Club v the Scottish and European Champions, Celtic, attracted 170,000 people in the first leg of the Final at Hampden Park.
Celtic won 1-0 but lost the second game 2-1, at El Cellindro de Avellaneda, making a 2-2 aggregate. In the play off the Argentinians won 1-0 in Uruguay.
Celtic's Jimmy Johnstone, their nippy winger came in for some "treatment" during the Final, where the South Americans did what they were good at. See photo....
The following year Manchester United had a rough two legs against Estudiantes of Argentina. In La Bombonera, in the La Boca region of Buenos Aires, only 25,000 watched the home team win 1-0. Whereas 63,500 were at Old Trafford to witness United only draw 1-1, giving the trophy to their guests.
Juan Ramon Veron, father of Juan Sebastian Veron scored in the opening minutes, George Best got sent off and Willie Morgan equalised in the final seconds; it was not enough.
The reputation of this competition was dented by the end of the 1960s, and in the 1970s some European clubs refused to take part and replacement clubs had to be found.
In the 1980s the matches were played as a one off Final in Tokyo and that seemed to take the sting out of the event. Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Aston Villa all made runners up in the 1980s and Manchester United won in 1999, beating Palmeiras of Brazil in Japan.
The clubs that have had most wins include Nacional, Penarol of Uruguay and Boca Juniors of Argentina, whilst in Europe, Real Madrid, and AC Milan have had most appearances.
25 different clubs have won in 45 editions, with Argentina having 9 wins, Italy 7 and Brazil 6.
In 2000 the FIFA World Club Cup was initiated and from 2005 it has taken its place annually, when more teams from other continents have been involved.
In 2008 Manchester Utd beat LDU Quito (a club with its origins in the city's university, Ecuador) 1-0 in Yokohama.
In 2012 Corinthians of Brazil (founded and named after the Corinthians of England) beat Chelsea 1-0, also in Yokohama, Japan and in 2019 Liverpool, the most recent winners, beat Flamengo of Brazil in Doha. Not to be confused with Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004), also known as the European/South American Cup.
The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an annual football competition organised by FIFA, the global governing body for the sport. First held in 2024, the tournament features the reigning club champions of each of the six FIFA confederations, contested in a knockout in competition which the representative from Europe receives a BYE to the final!! Good planning!!
The tournament concept is closely modelled on the earlier version of the FIFA World Cup, which underwent major expansion and restructuring starting with the 2025 edition. The FIFA Intercontinental Cup confers the title of annual world champions. Paris Saint-Germain are the current holders, having defeated Flamengo 2–1 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra-time in the 2025 Final.
Overall Real Madrid has won it 4 times, Barca 3, Corinthians 2 and the rest once each.
